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‘Half done’: Jillaroos vow to finish off the job

Australia v New Zealand - Womens Pacific Championships
The Jillaroos have the chance to exact revenge on New Zealand for what they did to them in last year’s Pacific Cup final. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

The Jillaroos may have beaten New Zealand on their home deck two weeks ago, but the revenge tour is far from complete as they look to finish the job on Sunday after they were stunned in last year’s Pacific Cup final by the Kiwi Ferns.

That snapped a seven-year losing streak for New Zealand in Tests against Australia, with the Jillaroos set to end a seven-year drought of their own when they finally return to Sydney for a Test match this weekend.

The game at CommBank Stadium is officially a sellout for the awesome foursome of international matches, and it’s quite fitting that the match is in Parramatta given the Aussies suffered a shock defeat at the same venue in 2019.

That came against New Zealand in the World Cup Nines when they were beaten 17-15 in the final, and Jillaroos skipper Ali Brigginshaw hasn’t forgotten about that game ahead of Sunday’s showpiece event.

But front and centre is what happened 12 months ago in Melbourne when they lost 12-6 just a year after they beat their main rivals by 50 points in the World Cup final.

“I don’t know if it’s about revenge. I think it’s more about us having a standard that we play to,” Brigginshaw said.

“We didn’t play up to our standards last year, so it’s been about working on defence and attack and making sure we play how we play.

“Yes, they got the win against us, but we’ve worked really hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again. It happened to us at the World Nines but then we turned it around pretty quickly.

“To be able to get the win over them a couple of weeks ago was good, but we have plenty of room for improvement. We didn’t want to celebrate too much after that game because we still have a job to do.

“That just shows the maturity of this group that everyone knows the job is only half done, and we can’t wait to get the job done.”

New Zealand v Australia - 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships: Womens
Isabelle Kelly can cap a terrific year with victory over New Zealand. Picture: Joe Allison/Getty Images

Strike centre Isabelle Kelly is expecting a vastly improved performance from New Zealand after they were held scoreless by Australia last month, with the hosts wary of another big game from Mele Hufanga, who had a couple of telling plays in last year’s final.

Kelly says last year’s loss can be a blessing for the World Cup champions who have worked tirelessly in Leura this week to ensure there is no repeat of the Melbourne ambush.

“The job is only half done for us, and that’s been a big focus for us to make sure that we know that there’s another job to do,” she said.

“We know what the Kiwis are like, and after a few weeks of footy, they’re only going to be stronger.

“We played well (in our first game against them), but there are a lot of things we can fix and a lot of things we can be better in.

“I think in the back of everyone’s mind is what happened last year in Melbourne which was really hard to take as a group, so that’s definitely a little bit of motivation going forward.”